The Council convened a two-day Climate Scenarios Workshop on Wednesday, June 5 and Thursday, June 6, 2024 in Kodiak, Alaska. The purpose was to generate ideas for short- and long-term management approaches to improve climate resiliency of federally managed fisheries in the North Pacific. The workshop included over 200 in-person and virtual participants. Presentations and meeting materials are available on the workshop eAgenda.

The workshop included case studies of climate change impacts in Alaska fisheries, and examples of ongoing work by the Council, NMFS, and communities to build climate readiness and support adaptation. The main focus of the workshop was a set of four hypothetical future scenarios that described varying degrees of climate change impacts that could be experienced in the future, as well as a range of ecosystem-based management approaches that could be practiced by the Council. Participants explored these hypothetical scenarios through small group breakout sessions.

No decisions were made at the workshop. Council staff provided a preliminary overview of themes of workshop discussions during Council staff tasking. The final workshop report will be available in September, and the public is invited to share additional comments and ideas. The Council will receive a presentation on the workshop report in October, consider how ideas from the workshop may fit into new or existing Council initiatives, and consider how and when to take further action.

If you are interested in receiving occasional updates about the Council’s climate readiness work, please click to join our Climate Readiness Mailing List.

Videos: Climate change case studies (approx. 10 min/each)

Gulf of Alaska Pacific Cod – Mike Litzow, NMFS AFSC, Kodiak Lab Director

Bering Sea snow crab – Erin Fedewa, NMFS AFSC

Rapid change in the Northern Bering Sea – Ebett Siddon, NMFS AFSC

Sablefish recruitment – Dana Hanselman, NMFS AFSC Auke Bay Lab Director

Full YouTube recordings (plenary only):

Pre-Workshop Discussions

Leading up to the Climate Scenarios Workshop, three virtual discussions will be held in preparation. The purpose of the virtual sessions is to begin exploring the questions and concepts that will be discussed at the workshop, and help participants prepare to engage in discussion. These sessions will be recorded. Click for the eAgenda for all three sessions.

Session 1: Climate change impacts in an uncertain future (video recording): Wednesday, April 24, 2024

This session will review the anticipated climate change impacts to the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska, followed by a discussion of the challenges involved in planning for climate change effects that are likely to become more frequent and impactful.

Session 2: Defining climate readiness (video recording): Tuesday, April 30 2024

This session will explore the meaning of “climate readiness” through recent work including the Council’s Climate Readiness Synthesis Report, and community climate adaptation planning efforts, followed by a discussion of different perspectives on climate readiness.

Session 3: Introduction to scenario planning (video recording): Tuesday, May 14 2024

This session will provide an introduction to climate scenario planning and the scenarios that will be discussed at the NPFMC Climate Scenarios Workshop. This information will also be provided as briefing material and discussed at the workshop.

Staff contact is Katie Latanich: 907-271-2809